Consumer groups to sue telcos over new charges

Some consumer groups have threatened to sue telecom companies in Ghana if they implement a new charge on subscribers who use social media services.

According to reports some telcos are likely to charge a standard rate of five Ghana cedis per month for WhatsApp, Tango, Viber and other services.

But the WhatsApp application will attract an extra charge aside the 5 cedis.One of the consumer groups, the Consumer Action Front has described as illegal the move by the telecom companies and is warning against its implementation.

Speaking to Citi Business News a member of CPA Dauda Mohammed Suru said, “We don’t see this as a failure, we consider it as an illegality and one of the options is to engage them legally”.

“This is actually another theft, it is robbery of the people of this country,… those who are already using the social media platforms are already paying the services that are being provided for them.MTN and the other Telcos are not the owners of these applications”, he explained.

Meanwhile Citi Business News has learnt that the National Communications Authority (NCA) has begun investing the matter and is to respond to the issue after it completes investigations.